A dump truck dumps a large quantity of mandarin oranges from its box into a landfill. Surrounding it are other mounds of the discarded fruit. All in a country with more than 50% of poor people.
In total, at least 8,000 kilos of the native variety were dumped in the citrus growing area of Chajarí, in Entre Ríos, according to estimates by producers in the area. There could be many more between what is discarded in each field and what is not harvested. The image went viral very quickly on social media.
The video was released by producer Elvio Calgaro, who is also a leader of the Agrarian Federation and former president of the Entre Ríos Citrus Growers Federation.
“We were doing well and the offers were accompanying the demand in the last two or three years, due to the drought there was a balance. But the rain came, accompanied precisely by the problem of the economic recession that exists.”
The crisis due to low sales
This fruit is perishable, like the tomato, its time comes and if you don’t consume it, it starts to rot, so it doesn’t reach the market, you can’t send it. And for many, it is one of the most appealing mandarins, the richest. It is the Creole one, the most economical. Well, unfortunately these things are happening because it could not be released to the market in a timely manner. Well, it’s gone and other varieties are coming after it. There are the results,” Calcagno said in a note with the Colonia Agropecuaria program, on AM550.
“We were doing well and the offers were following the demand in the last two or three years, due to the drought there was a balance. But the rains came, accompanied by the economic recession. The people’s purchasing power fell, collapsed, that’s what we noticed, and therefore there is a little more fruit but less consumption,” said the citrus grower.
“We noticed that there is a serious problem in consumption, there is no strength, because if today they pay you $150 a kilo, the factory is no longer closing the numbers even at 150. In front of you you have a liter of diesel that is worth 1300 pesos”
“The worst thing that can happen to a producer is to see his production thrown away, because behind each mandarin there is a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice. There is no way out (to the market) and other varieties come, and they have to be thrown away. We do know that a lot of fruit of this variety will remain on the plant. Frost is forecast for Sunday. I think that will surely help to bring them down,” added Calcagno and detailed that the segment is distributed 70% for fresh consumption, 20% for industry and only 10% for export.
“We noticed that there is a serious problem in consumption, there is no strength, because if today they pay you 150 pesos per kilo, the factory is no longer closing the numbers at 150 either. In front of you is a liter of diesel that costs 1,300 pesos in the country.. How many kilos of mandarin do you need to buy a litre of diesel? Well, we are in a difficult situation, because all the costs add up. We started like this, we are afraid that this will lead to another production, to another variety, that it will continue for a long time,” said the producer in the radio interview.
